There are a large number of piping systems that use reinforced rubber hose to join the ends of pipes, or pipes to short nipples, that are affixed to some device which must be connected to the piping system. Rubber hose and hose clamps used to secure the hose on the piping system have been in use for many years.
In situations where two devices are to be "connected", and there is a relative movement between the devices, use of a flexible hose to join the two devices makes very good sense.
However, there is another situation where the two devices do not move relative to each other, but hose, clamps and sometimes pipe lengths are used to join those devices This "makes sense" because of the difficulty of making any pipe that routes between two devices, that is "perfect" enough to meet the connection requirements at the joining points.
Disclosed herein is an "accommodating sealing sleeve" that will replace the hose and clamps because it will lock on to a standard hose nipple end, and it provides a seal and accommodation of the variations in the joining pipe that caused the hose and clamps to be used.
This accommodating sealing sleeve also conveys some important advantages to the manufacturer of engines or equipment that would use accommodating sleeves. Due to the clutter of other things around the point where the hose clamps are to be tightened or removed, there is often very little room to tighten the clamps. Difficult to reach areas like this are the cause of many problems of wrong clamp location, or improper torquing of the clamp, and are thus the source of a lot of the manufacturing and later service costs.
There is also the time required to "make" a proper joint. When an accommodating sealing sleeve is shipped on the pipe to be installed, so that both ports are slid back up on the pipe, it is only necessary to position the pipe and slide the sleeve off of the pipe and onto the mating hose nipple until the barb at the end of the pipe stops the movement. This, of course, is much faster than even installing the length of hose, so placing the clamps on the hose, keeping them roughly positioned while installing the hose, positioning the clamps, and then properly torquing them is saved too.
What is immediately evident is that the accommodating sealing sleeve can cost the user more than the purchase price of the hose and the clamps, and still save a significant amount of money. The user also gains a very real improvement in reliability for his customer.
The user has also, by using the accommodating sealing sleeves, given his customer the option, if a replacement is necessary, to use a new sleeve or use the older hose and clamps. This means that if the customer could have "repaired" the old way, he can also "repair" the new way even if he does not have a replacement sleeve. This removes the problem of having to immediately have the repair parts in the "field".
The accommodating sealing sleeve may also be supplied with a "releaser", an element captured in each end port that is tubular, and when pushed inward, will release the locking from the bead at the end of the nipple or pipe. By using "releasers" the sleeves can be made so that they are easy to decouple as well.
The figures show an embodiment of the "port" that has features of the locking system which lend themselves to low tooling costs for a large variety of sizes, and a means of obtaining a very large (relative to industry practice) accommodation of coaxial mis-match, and angular mis-match of the pipe and nipple ends.
The objectives of this disclosure are to :
1. Provide a reliable sealing port. PA1 2. Provide a reliable sealing port which will accommodate variations in the angular and coaxial and proper length match of the end or ends being joined. PA1 3. Provide a port which locks a pipe end into the port. PA1 4. Provide a port that includes a releasing element. PA1 5. Provide an accommodating, sealing, locking, releasable sleeve-like device which will replace a length of hose and hose clamps. PA1 6. Provide a connection that is readily field reparable.